Mass Effect Journeyman Self Insert
by ZetaWolf119
Summary: Includes characters and technology from The Journeyman Project: Legacy of Time. Arthur, an advanced AI, is trapped in our universe. The Reapers are suspect, as usual! Strapping on the Chameleon time travel suit, we jump to 2183 to find answers.
1. Prologue

Mass Effect: Journeyman Self Insert

Prologue

I walked along a snow machine trail; not a soul for miles. The forest was almost dead silent. The only noise to distract me from my thoughts was the very light sprinkling sound of snow falling on my green ski-jacket. I wipe the snowflakes away from my trimmed beard and mustache. The teeth of my snowshoes softly scrap away the fresh coat of powder from the older layers of snow beneath. The crusty barrier does an admirable job carrying my 170 pound heft. The further I trudge on, the more I feel unwelcome in these unfamiliar woods. My family always told me that it was stupid for me to go wandering off out there alone; especially at night.

No matter. I'll keep stomping away despite what might be rational and safe. Besides, living is just about the most dangerous thing you can do.

The main path split up ahead of me. The lighter tracks of snowmobiles abruptly converged with very deep tracks; probably made by heavy earth moving machines. The large ruts ran towards me on my left and turned sharply up the hill to my right. The way home was to the left, but curiosity gets the better of me. I'd never been up that hill before and it seemed odd for any sort of excavation to be happening in the dead of winter. Against my better judgment, I decide to check it out.

"Just need to be extra cautious," I think out loud, attempting to calm my nerves. I wished that at least the moon would break through the cloud cover so my headlamp wasn't the only source of light.

It only took five minutes of stomping through the massive caterpillar tracks to discover what all the earth-moving fuss was about. Just as I reached the crest of a man-made dirt plateau, a massive concrete bunker came into view. At least, I assumed it was a bunker. It had all the earmarks of some sort of secret military base. A high barbed wire fence stood between the towering construct and myself.

I panned my headlamp back and forth, outlining the entire length of the fence. The chain link obstruction was about thirty feet on all four sides; effectively boxing in the bunker. The only way to get in was through a steel gate. There weren't any controls on the exterior of the fence for operating the gate that I could see.

I took a few steps towards the gate but was immediately halted by the sound of massive electrical breakers tripping over. A piercing flood light from atop the bunker flared to life, blinding me. Not more than five seconds after the light came on; the sound of large electric motors and a grinding of stone rattled the chains of the fence. Two large rectangular slabs of concrete began to slowly swing into the interior of the bunker.

Before I could see what was inside, I turned and ran for the edge of the plateau, hurled myself over the banking and twisted in mid-air so that I'd be facing up hill again. It turns out that such maneuvers don't work so well with snowshoes on and I ended up getting my legs into a tangle. I tried to ignore the twisting pain as I struggled back up the side of the hill to see what was happening with the bunker.

I slowly peaked out over the edge, fully expecting a barrage of bullets to rain down on me. None did. The place was silent and motionless again. There was light coming from inside the bunker. I started to pull myself back over the crest when another sound pierced the silence. Ducking back so that only the top half of my head was exposed, I watched as the massive steel gate swung open.

"Crap…" I moaned, "They're coming to get me." I was tempted to hightail it out of there, but the insatiable elements of human curiosity held me there gapping open-mouthed at the events unfolding before me.

A massively loud squelching sound coming from the bunker caused me to temporarily ignore gravity in my surprise. It sounded like a public address system was turning on. The sound was probably produced by exit pressure drivers, I guessed. Even in times of stress, my technical mind still managed to unearth the resolve to analyze these things.

"Gaaaaaage! Is that you?" The loudspeakers exclaimed. "I could'a sworn I saw you for a split second..." The voice was male, cheerful and probably the least threatening you've ever heard. It was a teasing sort of voice. The kind you would associate with a class-clown. No matter. I wasn't moving from that spot for anyone; virtually paralyzed on the side of the hill.

The flood light began to slowly scan the area just ahead of its initial resting place. Then it shot up to where I was peeking over the hill so suddenly I didn't have time to react!

"HA!" The voice came again, "Gotcha!"

"Shit!" I said, louder than I should have.

"Ah, come on, Gage. You were always sloppy at stealth."

I slowly pulled myself over the hill and stood up to face the light. Whoever it was must have a camera up there, I thought. I lift my hands above my head.

"You…can hear me?" I ask uncertainly.

"There's a hyperbolic microphone pointed at you, so yeah, I could hear what you ate for breakfast if I wanted to." The voice replied teasingly.

Hmmm, what did I eat for breakfast….wait, stay focused!

"Who are you?" I asked, hands still over my head.

"Really Gage? We've been through this once before…you weren't mind wiped again, were you?"

"My name's not Gage!" I shout, "I think you've got me confused with someone else."

"What? No way! You look exactly like him! Well, except for the beard, I suppose. Hmmm…"

"Hey, err, listen; I'm obviously intruding here and I'll just head back the way I came if that's alright with you." I start to turn around.

"No, wait! You don't have to leave!" The voice replies, sounding somewhat desperate. "At least come inside so I can shut this thing off. I need your help with…well, something I can't do on my own."

I paused for a second and turned back to face the music, as it were, "Are you trying to solicit me? I'm sorry, but I don't swing that way, man!" I shout back incredulously.

"What? NO! Nothing like that! I…I don't even have a body to solicit with!" The speakers shout back. I shake my head, not quite believing I'm having this kind of conversation with someone out in the woods; over a PA system no less!

"What do you mean you don't _have_ a body?" I start stomping over to the gate, "You sound crazy, but THIS I have to see!"

"Alright then! Door's open for you." The hum of the speakers cuts out as does the glaring searchlight. A dull orange glow emanates from within the open bunker. I cautiously move past the gate and towards the doorway. I begin to make out a much smaller door inside.

As I approach the concrete threshold, I remember my snowshoes and quickly unbuckle them from my thick canvas boots. Gathering the pair of Tubbs into one arm, I step inside the bunker. I turn, half expecting the heavy doors to slam shut behind me. After four uncertain seconds, I steel my resolve and approach the smaller door opposite the massive one behind me.

This new door looks very out of place in the rudimentary confines of the concrete structure. It has a nice color scheme to it; a deep purple with a light yellow logo design about eyelevel and the same size as a human head. I can't help but admire the design of the logo. Three boldly shaded yellow rings arranged in a triangle formation.

"Strength and unity…nice." I critique for no one in particular. I'm still trying to calm down after the encounter with the unfamiliar voice. The uncertainty about what sort of person waits beyond the door stresses me out more than I'd like to admit.

I take one step closer to the door and raise my hand to knock. Just as my hand is about to make contact with the cool metal surface, the triangular logo flips out on a hinge. A small display comes to life where the logo used to be. Black text appears on the white screen. I step closer so I can read it.

"Gage Blackwood, welcome to TSA 2011 Appalachia Outpost."

"Huh," I step back and cock my head slightly to one side, "Even the door thinks I'm this Gage person."

As if in response to my rambling, the logo plate smoothly flips back down over the display. The sounds of what I guessed were metal locking rods sliding out of the door proper cause my chest to vibrate slightly.

"That's one hefty lock." I continued rambling, not hiding the shakiness in my voice one bit. Even with my hands buried deep in warm mittens, they still shook.

The heavy door swung open noiselessly at first and slowed with the hiss of hydraulics. Daylight balanced lights along the edges of the floor faded up to full brightness and revealed a small featureless room; about the size of an elevator.

Stepping inside the room confirmed that it was indeed an elevator. A traditional button panel was built into the wall to the right of the door; exactly where you'd expect it to be. There were two buttons; the top labeled "1", the bottom was "B". I pressed the "B" button, figuring that the rest of the facility must be underground.

The sighing of hydraulics began after I pressed the button and the purple door closed in front of me. With a slight jerk, I could feel the elevator begin its descent. A strip of LED lights between the "1" and "B" buttons blinked one after the other as the elevator made progress.

I slumped back against the smooth featureless wall of the elevator.

"What have I got myself into?" I let a shaky sigh escape. I have no idea where I'm going or what sort of person waits below. There were so many reasons for me not to be doing this. Thinking back to the fork in the path that started this whole ordeal, I wondered if I was wrong to turn right instead of left.

"Perhaps this isn't about right or wrong. I just made a choice." I chuckle, "I should stop talking to myself."

The elevator smoothly slows its descent and stops with the familiar hissing sounds.

The same dark purple door swings open, beckoning me to exit. Pulling my snowshoes a bit closer to myself, I take a few wary steps into the room beyond.

I felt a bit underwhelmed as I let the narrow beam of my headlamp sweep over the relatively small room. With the massive bunker up above and the epic elevator ride down, I was expecting something more along the lines of an aircraft hanger or at the very least, a stargate. A futuristic office was the most fitting description I could come up with.

It may not have been as grandiose as I let myself imagine it would be, but there were still plenty of neat things to look at. The far wall of the office was dominated by a very large concave display with smaller windows and dialogue prompts scattered about its surface. It looked vaguely like the sort of displays Tom Cruise interacted with in The Minority Report.

To the right of the gigantic screen was some kind of armored suit on display. It even had three lights shining down on it in a rear three-quarter arrangement; making the effect even more dramatic and striking. The moment I saw it, I couldn't take my eyes off it. The armor plating was arranged in a ribbed fashion with a convex variation on the breastplate. The helmet was almost bug-like; very round with two small eyes looking down at me from opposing sides. The shoulder pieces had logos on them, the same design I saw on the elevator door was on the left plate. The right plate had a striking pasteurized depiction of a brontosaurus with its neck and tail snaking around the words "DEEP TIME UNIT". Everywhere there was armor plate on the suit; it reflected back a beautifully polished golden green color.

"Very cool…" I whispered admiringly.

"Like it?" The voice jolted me out of my trance. I whirl around to where the voice came from. To my immense frustration, there was still no physical form to associate the voice with.

"Yeah, it's very well put together…" I reply not before an exasperated sigh. "Look, where are you?"

"I take it you've never had a run in with non-organic sentient life before." I'm starting to pinpoint where the voice is coming from; somewhere around the large computer console that dominates the room.

"Non-organic sentient…" I repeat to myself, "No, can't say that I have. Wait, isn't that something like an artificial intelligence?"

"Yes…" The computer responds, sounding insulted by the phrase, "Most people would probably settle on that terminology to describe me. But how would YOU like it if someone called your intelligence artificial? Kinda degrading, don't you think?"

For the first time since I ran into the fork in the snow machine trail, I feel a gradual calmness come over me. Maybe it's my appetite to learn about things out of the ordinary that's caused me to forget the potential danger. Maybe it was just having someone to finally talk to after the intense silence of the woods above our heads. Either way, a million questions start to brim over in my mind and it's those questions that overpower my fears more than anything else.

"You know, I never thought about it like that. Then again, I've never met an artifi-"

"AH! Don't say it!" The computer/person warns. I can't help but smile.

"I mean, non-organic sentient…person." I decide, choosing the last word carefully.

"Person, eh? Sounds like you're actually trying to understand." An animated image takes the center most position on the giant screen and grows, dwarfing all the other windows. Two very large black and yellow eyes are staring at me from within a variation of the jump suit's helmet. The eyes blink at me curiously, though it's hard to tell what sort of emotion they're going for; the representation is rather robotic.

"I'm sure you've got a lot of questions, but there's a reason I let you in here and we need to take care of that before we can do anything else." The eyes still blink every other second, but there's no mouth to accompany the words I'm hearing.

"Yeah, it's kinda strange that you'd just let me waltz in here. This place looks like it's supposed to be a massive secret."

"Well, it IS a 'massive secret'" he blinks as he says the last two words, "But I've been forced to make an exception to that rule under the current circumstances. I'm sure that this is what Gage would have wanted."

"Okay, hold up! Who is this Gage Blackwood you keep mentioning?" I interrupt, holding up my hands as if I could physically stop the barrage of information.

"Gage is an agent for the TSA, or the Temporal Security Agency as it's better known in government paperwork. Mostly he played the role of earth's badass hero! He also rescued me from a failing space station orbiting Saturn a few years ago and I've been working with him on and off ever since."

"So what made you think I was him?" I step closer to the very large blinking eyes.

"Irony of ironies, you look almost exactly like him! Granted, he's taller, but beyond that…yeah. You managed to fool the all-knowing Arthur for a few seconds!"

"Arthur…that's your name?" I reached out and touched the screen where the edge of his helmet is.

"Guilty as charged. And you are?"

"Jason," I reply, "Just call me Jason."

"Pleased to meet you, Jason! Heh, this isn't the first time I've met a Gage Blackwood impersonator, you know." He sighs, "Even in other universes his influence knows no bounds." The eyes blink again, growing wider somehow in a split second.

"Well, now I've gotten us side tracked!"

"Yeah, I remember you saying we couldn't do anything until we took care of something first." I recall.

"Right," A different window starts to enlarge on the display as Arthur's window shrinks to accommodate the new screen. "Alright, let's see here…I hope you don't scare easily, Jason. What I'm about to show you might turn you into a lifelong insomniac."

"Hey, I've come this far. The least I can do is hear you out." I shake my head, trying to keep my mind from being overwhelmed by the growing multitude of questions. A space station orbiting Saturn? Another universe?

"Don't mind me if I seem a bit shell shocked about all this. It's not every day I encounter super secret military bases."

"I think I can understand," Arthur blinks, genuine compassion in his voice, "I felt the same way when I found out time travel was invented and I read my own obituary in the news."

"Wait, WHAT?" My mouth just might stay hanging open permanently now, "Time travel?"

"Okay, that probably wasn't the best way to spring that one on you, but yes, I originally come from a universe where time travel is invented about 300 years from your time."

I start to pace around the office. My hands find themselves massaging my temples as this new shell shocker sinks in. A space station orbiting Saturn, another universe, and freakin' TIME TRAVEL? I had always suspected that such things might be invented or discovered one day, but I never dreamed I would encounter such radical concepts outside of science fiction.

I look down and see my snowshoes and mittens haphazardly splayed on the floor. I hadn't realized I had dropped them.

"You okay?" Arthur's large eyes blink in concern. I stop pacing and manage a small smile.

"Yeah, it's just…" I fix a deliberate stare on the screen, "All this…this futuristic computer…the jumpsuit," I gesture at each in turn, "and time travel? It's not supposed to exist. Not yet, anyway." _You're not supposed to exist,_ I mentally add and immediately feel guilty for thinking it.

"No, it's not. And under normal circumstances, the TSA would lock me up in isolated storage for what Gage and I have done." Arthur explains, audibly making an effort to sympathize with the informational overload I'm experiencing. "Look. Breaking the existence of time travel and alternate universes was one of the big hurdles to get out of the way. We've got all the time in the world for the rest of the story."

I stop pacing, still trying to get the information to sink in. I'm hardly surprised when warm wet beads begin to make their way down my face. I know that rationally, I shouldn't believe anything that I've heard and seen for the past half hour…if I was being rational. The only thing that allowed me to accept that this wasn't some twisted joke was discovering Arthur. He was the ace in the hole. His non-organic existence was the mortar of the brick house; the one element that held this incredible story together. For reasons I couldn't even fathom, I began to trust him much faster than I had any organic. The strange man without a body to solicit with.

I look over at him, or rather his graphical representation drawn on the screen. Somehow he seems concerned, even through the limited range of emotion he's able to express visually. Perhaps his silence is confirmation enough of his sympathy.

"For what it's worth, I'm glad it's you breaking this amazing story to me." I smile.

"HA! I'm sure if there was a gorgeous woman standing here in addition to myself, you'd be much more interested in what she had to say!" The voice was teasing, but I could tell he appreciated the thought nonetheless.

"You're probably right, but there's no need to be fatalistic about it. You'd be hitting on her too!"

"And she wouldn't be able to resist…!" He chuckled maniacally. I find myself smiling despite myself. Can't fault him for who he is, I suppose.

I turn my gaze to the new window displayed on the right side of the screen. I had ignored it up until then. There was a video on looped playback.

"What is this?" I point at the video.

"This…is part of the reason I decided to let you in. Gage and I recorded it when we were exploring the history of your universe." A volume indicator fades in and increases until I can hear birds and a light breeze. "I should warn you; it's not pretty."

The camera appears to be positioned on a grassy bluff looking over a massive city. The architecture looks very sophisticated; many of the skyscrapers employ an elongated triangular design akin to some of the more modern buildings in our own time period.

The city is impressive enough, but it's nothing more than an afterthought compared to the massive brooding presence of the strange alien ship suspended over the metropolis. It has the look of an elongated insect; a very tall main upper hull and six spidery looking arms branching off from a central point on the underside of the body. "Gigantic" would be the proper term to describe the vessel; it easily dwarfs every building on the ground.

The imposing ship remains suspended silently for a while, as if it's waiting for something. Four more ships seemingly fade in from the upper atmosphere as the thought crosses my mind. The camera pans up to get a better look at them. In no time, the lone floating ship is joined by its equally menacing brethren. A low rumbling accompanies their arrival and the black sleek hulls gleam in the light of a blood red setting sun.

As the ships slow to a halt, the rumbling sound began to increase in its intensity and continued to grow louder and pitch higher. It sounded as if something were powering up. Then more of the same sounds added to the dreadful moan until it swelled into a haunting chorus. When the noise reached a peak, three of the five ships began to fall into the city. They descended quickly; as if gravity finally switched on for them.

The first of the three ships made contact with a very tall skyscraper; a crowning achievement for the culture that had built it. The structure was crushed almost instantly by the falling dreadnought. You saw it before you heard it due to the distance. When the sound finally caught up with the video, a bone shattering _BOOM!_ completely ignored the audio limiter and clipped the microphone. I winced as the towering construct was reduced to rubble at faster-than-freefall speed. The camera shook along with the tremors pulsating through the ground. The grinding of steel on foreign metal and the horrifying screams of thousands filled the room as the two remaining ships struck the ground.

"Holy shit!" I gasp in awe.

The next thing that happened was something out of H. G. Wells' worst nightmare. The two ships still suspended in the air suddenly erupted with a brilliant white light. Beams of energy flashed from the tentacles of the ships, cutting through buildings as though they were paper. The heat rays made no noise, but the resulting devastation was confirmation enough of their effectiveness.

I shut my eyes after only three seconds of the energy beam onslaught. The resounding symphony of screams was more than I could bear.

"Arthur, turn it off." I said finally. The video disappeared immediately. "What the hell was that?" My heart continued to pound away relentlessly.

"Those ships are called Reapers."

"Reapers…" I repeat, "There's a fitting name."

"They're sentient machines from the empty space outside this galaxy. That's what the legends say about them anyway." More images pop up and replace the video; recordings of ruins with crude depictions of the reapers carved into them, an animated model of one of the ships slowly rotating also fades into view.

"We didn't spend as much time as we would have liked investigating this, but from the recon missions we performed in your history, the Reapers work in cycles. They return every fifty thousand years and cull the advanced races of the galaxy. Why, we don't know."

"So, there are other races in our galaxy?" I notice the chair parked under the console for the first time and pull it out to sit down.

"Yeah, they're hundreds of species, but there are a few dominant ones," Several pictures of different alien races replace the recordings of ruins. "There's Asari, Krogan, Salarian, Quarian, Turian, and the occasional Yarq. Trust me; you don't want to run into those guys!"

"Good grief…" I'm rubbing my temples again, elbows propped up on the console, "But we haven't made contact with any of these races yet, right?" I swipe my hand over what looks like a human interface device and see a cursor react on the screen accordingly. The input system is surprisingly intuitive, probably perfected after hundreds of years of revision. The beauty of the Asari race catches my eye and I enlarge the photo Arthur supplied.

"No, but I bet you'd like to contact that one, wouldn't you?" The helmet with eyes nudges the picture of the Asari teasingly.

"Hey! I'm not ashamed of admiring beauty!" I swipe through additional photos of the race in question, "Looks like all you got were female examples…" I smile.

"They're a mono gender race, you dingbat!"

"Suuure…" I chuckle, switching to pictures of the Krogan race, "What about these guys? Are they mono gender, too?"

"You'd think so, but not exactly. From what we've learned about them, they seem to be afflicted by some kind of sterility disease that limits reproduction significantly. About one in a thousand Krogan survive birth."

"That's unfortunate…"

"Seeing a Krogan female is rare because they're traditionally sheltered in female-only clans on the Krogan homeworld."

"They probably go through quite a few hoops to protect their women then. From the pictures you've got here, looks like they're a wicked violent race, too." They're almost reptilian looking but more humanoid; very muscular and hunchbacked. Every Krogan seems to be equipped with some kind of armor.

"Oh yeah!" Arthur audibly shivers, "You haven't seen carnage until you meet a Krogan."

"Huh…" I continue to aimlessly sift through the pictures, "Looks like you've seen a lot of our galaxy."

"Yours was the first we visited when we discovered parallel displacement jumping." He immediately addresses the confused look on my face, "That is, the ability to move between different parallel universes."

"So, is that why all this is here in New England then? This is a research outpost?"

"You catch on quick! This little hideaway was set up only a week ago, in fact." The screen suddenly goes dark and the three circles of the TSA logo fade into view.

"What the hell…" I try swiping away at the control interface to no avail. "Why'd you shut it off?"

"Time to get suited up!" A sound to my right causes me to jump and I look over just in time to see a glowing platform slide out from the wall. "I know you were having fun looking at the Asari and all, but it's going to be a lot easier to explain what's going on from inside the suit."

"Hold on a sec…you want me to put on that suit?" I scratch my beard uncertainly. _Man, I've gotta trim more often!_

"Okay, here's the deal." The cute helmet with blinking eyes pops back onto the screen, "I really, REALLY need your help, Jason. Let's get you suited up and I'll explain everything once you're inside." The blinking helmet shrinks away and the entire console goes dark.

"That's still pretty vague...but I can't turn down trying this thing out." I mumble as I approach the suit; still captivated by its brilliant design. It looks like something a tech oriented comic book hero would wear.

"Okay, first things first," A muffled voice resonates from inside the bug-like helmet. Three of the horizontal scales of the helmet slide back. "There we go!" A dull amber glow appears behind the suit. I peak around and see some kind of electroluminescent lighting seeping through the posterior scale plates.

"Okay," Arthur continues, "I've downloaded myself back into the suit. Now we've just gotta download your inconvenient bag of bones in here as well."

"Consisting entirely of computer code must have its perks." I chuckle, not at all offended by the non-organic's jest.

"If only women could see it as a perk." The helmet replied, the voice losing some enthusiasm.

"Ah…" My gaze drops slightly. I'd never pondered how an artificial life form would feel about love. From what I'd gathered thus far, Arthur seemed no different from any other human personality. Why should he be passed over just because he didn't have a physical body to associate with? "I'm sure there's someone out there for you, Arthur." I reply in a hopeful tone.

"You're assuming there isn't already. Let's not go making assumptions, Jason…"

"So you've met someone then?" I perk up a bit at that.

"Yeah….no. It's just me and you for now!"

"Ah, well, I'm more attracted to those of the female persuasion, good sir."

The helmet sighs, "Looks like we're the same, in that sense. For some reason I'm always getting paired up with guys like you and Gage! I think both our universes have it out for me."

The platform begins to glow a bit brighter.

"Alright, enough about that! We should get going." A low pitched humming noise gradually increases in volume, "Step up onto the platform and we'll get the essential base suite on."

I step up and turn around to face the still open helmet of the suit. "How's this going to work?" I look around uncertainly.

"Like this…hold still!"

Thus began the strangest experience with clothes I've ever had. Starting with my heavy canvas boots, I watched them seemingly melt away from my feet and reappear on the floor in front of the raised platform. Instead of leaving my feet bare, a new pair of boots materialized in place of the old ones as if by magic.

"Tingly…" I scrunch up my toes inside the new boots. The same creepy crawly sensation continued up my legs, and stopped just below my neck. I was now dressed in a tastefully textured all-black outfit that fit me surprisingly well! It wasn't super tight or form fitting like I expected it to be. All the clothing I was wearing previously is stacked in a neat pile on the floor; my thick lens glasses at the very top.

"Not bad, Arthur, not bad. I feel like I could get away with wearing this all the time." I brush my right hand over the sleeve of the shirt. It resembles a traditional long-sleeve t-shirt from our time period; very no-nonsense. The pants and boots follow a similar no-frills approach to styling while being coarser in their materials; quite a bit more durable, I guessed.

"The suit was designed to interface and become air-tight with traditional clothes of the time period I'm from. What you're wearing now would pass for casual wear on any metropolis."

"Glad to see taste hasn't gone the Gene Rodenberry route in the future." I smirk.

"You'd be surprised at how much WORSE it can get than Star Trek with some of the fashion taste in the future. This type of garb is pretty low-key by comparison."

"Well, I'm VERY grateful for that!"

"Heh, I figured you would; mister dark, short and mysterious! Alright, let's go over how to put on the main suit components…"


	2. The Chameleon Jumpsuit

**[A/N] To those who have been following this story, I appreciate your interest. I would like to apologize for such a massive delay in getting the next few chapters ready. My computer bit the dust when I was packing for school and I only managed to revive it this past week. Here's hoping that I can keep a poorly fabricated video chipset limping along 'till this story is done! Chapters will be shorter from now on so I should be able to update more frequently. Enjoy! [A/N]**

It took roughly a half hour, but I managed to get myself strapped into the armor plate pieces of the suit. Instead of getting the majority of the suit put on in one step like I anticipated, there were several pieces that had to be applied in a specific order, or the whole suit would burst into flames, according to Arthur.

"Alright, congrats on getting this far without breaking anything. You've already surpassed Gage in that respect."

"Ah, well, he was probably in a rush." _I hope HE didn't burst into flames_. I look down at the helmet that's been guiding me through the assembly process. I couldn't help but examine every piece of the suit that I subsequently strapped on, much to Arthur's annoyance. What can I say? I'm a nerd when it comes to these things!

"Okay…now if your quite finished cataloging the weight of this helmet both in grams AND pounds, we can get the suit pressurized and down to business!"

"Getting a little testy, are we?" I smile down at the helmet.

"Grrrr." The helmet replies. I lift the bug-like device over my head and quickly slide it on. As soon as the last piece falls into place, the forward visor of the helmet closes with a CLINK! Everything is very dark for a second.

"Ah, crap." I whisper to the silence, "Arthur?" Suddenly, there's a hissing sound and every part of the suit becomes very rigid and tight against my body. "Ow!"

Another hissing noise and the pressure gradually relaxes until everything feels snug rather than cut-off-blood-circulation restricting.

The next thing that happened is hard to describe for those who haven't experienced technology that directly interacts with brainwaves. At first, I thought I had fallen asleep and started dreaming. A HUD display slowly faded into the visual core of my mind and caused me to temporarily question the validity of my own reality, oddly enough.

The TSA logo zoomed into the center of my field of vision and small fine text appeared below it. I mention the small fine text because, unlike with my normal eyes, I can actually read the text! CHAMELEON SUIT DIAGNOSTICS IN PROGRESS, it read.

After about five seconds of watching the three ring logo complete one rotation, a new HUD blinks to life. This one has very relaxing smooth gradient pastel colors. Menu bars and text are a subdued purple while other interface elements were golden brown in color.

A few block paragraphs of text flashed across the central part of the screen that was still dark; too quickly for me to read. Then the central display flared to life and the office faded back into existence; this time with astonishing detail and depth.

"Arthur, this is amazing…" I breathe, swiveling my head around to look at aspects of the environment I wasn't able to make out before. I test the movement of the jumpsuit, taking two steps off the platform and stopping in front of my pile of clothes. Motion felt surprisingly natural for being encased in a suit! As I look around the room, the helmet smoothly adjusted itself accordingly.

"I knew you'd be nuts over this thing." A miniature version of Arthur's avatar leaps into a separate display on the bottom right of the HUD. "I guess I'll take a snooze while you geek out about the suit's operating system for the next half hour."

"Ah, come on! This is my first time interacting with technology from the future. Cut me a little slack!" I reply. I reach down and gather up my clothes from the floor and place them on a low bench next to the computer console.

"I was expecting more restricted motion than this. It's almost as natural as doing things without the suit." I observe as I walk back and forth across the room like someone trying on a new pair of shoes.

"Ha! You should've seen the previous iteration of the time displacement suit. Their most practical function aside from time travel was their comedic effect in Monty Python sketches." Arthur chuckles and I echo in laughter.

"Well, to the person who designed this thing, they deserve a gold star." I stop in front of the computer console which has now become a large mirror. I take note that the suit's nickname, Chameleon, makes perfect sense; the ribbed horizontal scales, layers of plate metal, and two camera lenses positioned on opposite sides of my head. It bears a striking resemblance to the shifty little reptile.

"I wouldn't want to run into someone dressed like this in the middle of the night." I strike a dominating pose. The non-organic clears his throat as I switch angles.

"When you're finished auditioning for Runway, I'll explain the reason you're here." Arthur says with annoyance, "No pressure, though."

"Sorry." I chuckle. "Let's hear it."

"Ahem," He finally begins, "I'm trapped in your universe and I can't get out." He says matter-of-factly.

"Really? But you said the TSA had discovered…what was it…parallel shifting? How can you be stuck here?"

"If I knew the answer to that, I would be long gone and you would have been spending a pleasant evening at home instead of getting roped into helping me."

"But what about the other TSA agents? Why haven't they come back?"

"Again, I can only guess." The helmet's eyes half shut in a sad expression, but only briefly. "But now that you're here, I'm hoping we can figure that out!" The avatar appears cheerful again. "For some reason, the parallel temporal core that's built into the suit you're wearing is only good for fancy Tesla light shows at the moment. It stopped working about a week ago when I was scheduled to return to the TSA. I was here by myself compiling data on the mass extinction cycle we talked about earlier."

"And how do these…Reapers play into the picture? Do you think they're involved somehow?"

"That's exactly the kind of theory I'm toying with! The influence of these sentient machines is astronomical. From what I've gathered, they may have even _created_ the mass relays set up all over your galaxy! Here; let me explain the relays…"

A 3D graphic of what I assumed was a mass relay appeared on the left side of the chameleon HUD. It was a curious looking device; very long, pointy, and reconciling at one end into a circular shape. In the middle of the circular abutment was a soft glowing blue light. Rings spun and rotated within the rippling pool.

"Mass relays are the technological backbone of advanced space faring races in this galaxy. They're what enable ships to jump between different star systems almost instantaneously. Unfortunately, the Reapers use the relays during their centuries-long purge as well. Considering the nature of these powerful devices, my gut tells me that something may have happened to the relay network that's screwing with parallel displacement and the Reapers might be involved."

"So that's why you've got me down here then? You want me to help you figure out why you can't shift back to your universe?" I conclude.

"Yeah, that would be great if we could figure that out." The mass relay fades away and is replaced by a silent replay of the Reaper invasion video, "But more importantly, I'd like to see if there's something we could do about this Reaper cycle that's been plaguing your galaxy for countless millennia. That's a bit more of a pressing issue than me getting back home, don't you think?"

"That's…very self-sacrificing of you, Arthur." I smile. The voice in my right-ear chuckles.

"I think both problems are related, seeing as how the next culling is due in about 170 years…which isn't much time when you consider 50,000 years per cycle."

"Really? Man…that's coming up quicker than Christmas." I sway a bit with the revelation.

"Jason, help me save Christmas."

"Well, good grief! What are we waiting for?" I jump up to my feet, ready to take on anything the Grinch and his cronies can dish out.

"That's the holiday spirit!" The helmet leaps away from the base of the HUD.

"Okay, now wait a sec." I try to collect my thoughts, "I should probably tell my family about this."

"If everything works out, we should be able to return here just a few seconds after we leave." Arthur explains in a cheerful tone. "We're dealing with time travel, remember?"

"Yeah, but what if it doesn't work out." I tap on the input interface of the console and the clustered collection of windows reappears on screen, "I should leave a message just in-case. It's the least I can do."


	3. The Jump, the Bang, and the Fall

[A/N] Thank you for the reviews and helpful critiques on grammar. I haven't been at this for a long time, so I'm a bit rusty. If anyone catches more errors, please let me know!  
>On with the story! [AN]

"We recording, Arthur?" I brush my short brown hair back and hold the chameleon helmet to my right. I look like an Apollo astronaut getting ready for a photo shoot. Albeit a very reptilian looking astronaut.

"Yep, go ahead," A blinking red record indicator appears in the upper corner of the screen next to the video preview window.

I take a deep breath and step closer to the camera. What could I possibly say that would adequately explain all this? I decide not to over think it and say what's on my mind. I'm only talking to my closest family members, after all.

"Okay…Hi guys," _great start_, I mentally wince, "uh, if you're seeing this, well, it means you're finally getting the truth on what happens when I go for three hour walks at night," _Wow. I'm making this sound bad,_ "I know it looks like I'm cosplaying or something, but it's not what it looks like!" I chuckle and look down at the suit, suddenly feeling ridiculous for the first time since putting it on.

"Okay…if you're seeing this, it means I wasn't able to make it back for some reason…back to this time period." My eyes fall briefly, "See, I ran into a friend who needed help and I can't even begin to explain what's at stake. He's from the future, he's a non-organic sentient life form, and there's a heart somewhere in those lines of code that I can only aspire to match," My smile grows, "It turns out some of those stories on Stargate had truth to them, Dad," I move closer to the camera, "I want all of you to understand that you're more valuable to me than anything in this universe, or any other universe, for that matter." I continue talking and reminiscing for several minutes, mostly expressing appreciation for every second chance, every forgiven mistake, and every loving memory.

"Arthur, set the message to send ten minutes after we jump."

"Got it."

I sigh deeply and look straight at the camera, "Alright then. This is where we part ways. And who knows, maybe we've just fudged it up and I'll be back before you know it!" I smirk and slide the helmet back over my head. The pressurization process happens again, causing me to wince.

"Ready for your first stream dive, Jason?" The HUD and Arthur's shiny helmet avatar reappear in my mind.

"I'm ready." I whisper, still looking down at the camera. I smile as I offer one final wave. I switch on the exterior sound module so my voice is heard outside the suit. "Farewell."

A feeling like electrostatic currents pulsating through the air wrapped themselves around my entire being. Alternating with the static were jets of cool air which felt as though they were being fired straight through my body.

The cooling jets intensified and my consciousness began slipping away from the world. That was when the shift happened; a sound like crashing waves rose up around me and I could see the water as it swirled about me. It felt like sleep paralysis; the precursor to an astral projection.

_Through the wormhole._

I could see outside the vortex through the suit HUD. Somehow, the chameleon systems were still projecting into my mind despite the sheer sensory madness I was experiencing.

Beyond the distortion of the water, I could see the office fading away as it was replaced by the sun and moon chasing each other through the sky. The landscape below me flickered between dark blue and vibrant green. We were moving away from that landscape. I could make out the hills that surrounded my hometown. Only seconds later, the entire North American continent was being swept over by thousands of clouds and day-night cycles.

_Through time._

As we began to leave the atmosphere of earth, the racing of the sun and moon gradually slowed and the rotation of the earth increased. Soon, it seemed to be spinning out of control and all the continents and oceans blurred together.

_I'm going to be sick._

The sun started to whip around the earth again and again. Years were passing now; at least twelve so far. Before inevitable dizziness could set in, we shot away from the earth as if launched from a canon. This happened just as the sun was passing behind us and we flew past the churning yellow giant much closer than I would have liked.

_How do I shut my eyes!_

Thankfully, the sun wasn't as blinding as I expected. The HUD must have dimmed to compensate as we hurtled by. In less than ten seconds, the sun was nothing more than a blinking diamond in the distance. We passed through the icy ort cloud and I strained to see behind me if Planet X actually existed. I saw nothing out of the ordinary. It was at that point a simple yet immutable detail entered my thoughts:

_Where are we going?_

As if in answer to my mental banter, a brief flash of piercing light exploded through my mind's eye and then there was an eerie blackness. All of the sensations and sounds from before were gone. The black world I was in somehow felt three dimensional and completely different from the blackness behind one's eyelids. I could feel subtle movement as I floated through the impenetrable ink.

_Is this supposed to happen?_

…_it's what you wanted, isn't it? _A very different voice from mine replied in my mind. It was feminine, soft, teasing, and strangely familiar. It shouldn't have been, but all of this felt familiar.

_What is this place? _I inquired through my thoughts. Speaking orally had no audible effect upon this strange void-like environment.

…_This is a void, _The voice explained.

_Ah. Thanks for clearing that up for me, _I smirked. The darkness before me began to oscillate in different shades of black and grey. Very quickly, the form of a woman materialized three feet in front of me. She had a somewhat amused expression toying at the soft features of her countenance. Her hair was very long and dark brown with bangs that stopped just above her eyes. She wore a simple white long-sleeve shirt that did wonders for my increasing partiality towards her. Fitted olive green capris and bare feet only made my staring worse. She looked GOOD; better than I felt comfortable admitting. And the legs… good grief, don't get me started!

_God damn, you're familiar! I've seen you somewhere, but I can't pin it down._ I thought, still staring like a kid who just realized he liked girls for the first time.

…_starting to remember, are we? _She had the slightest hint of a German accent. Her lips did not move as she spoke. I decided we must have been communicating telepathically.

She moved closer to me and both hands reached out to my face, one resting under my jaw and the other gently holding the left side of my face, her thumb lightly caressing my temple. The touch was bordering on electric, but it was pleasant and cool. It felt as though some fingers were permeating my skin and messaging every underlying cell.

…_jog any memories for you? _Her thought voice whispered. I didn't reply. I didn't want it to stop. I realized in that moment how long it had been since I'd felt anything like that. I also realized who she was the moment her hands touched my face. It was the manner of the touch that triggered a sudden explosion of memories. And not just memories, emotion welled up in me at the same time. I suddenly felt an overwhelming fondness and comfort with this woman. I knew, without a doubt, who she was.

_Catherine, _With that mental utterance, I was literally snapped back into the swirling vortex, the rushing water, and the repetitive blasting of cold air.

_I remember._

The shifting and piercing blasts of icy air finally stopped. I had completely lost track of where our sun had been. Instead, countless stars met my gaze. There were tens of thousands of them. I had never seen stars so clearly before and I doubt many people bound to earth had either.

For the first time since I found the bunker in the woods, I stopped to reflect. Something truly remarkable had just happened. Having just experienced my first temporal jump felt insignificant by comparison.

_I remember… I remember you, Catherine! _Then another thought instinctively occurred to me: _I've lived before this life._

I looked beneath where I was floating in space. There was a new planet. This one seemed to be covered in ice and snow, unless I was mistaking it for cloud cover. Directly behind me, a new sun accompanied this new planet. Its radiance was much more piercing and intense than our own. I pivoted back so I could get a proper look at the planet. _So this is what it feels like to be weightless._

"That was quite the trip." I challenged the silence.

"Ah, you're still here! I was starting to think we might've left some parts of you behind," Arthur's voice gradually filtered in from the right side of the helmet, "Jason, have you been listening to anything I've been saying?"

I shake my head, "I was kinda zoning out there. Sorry,"

The non-organic sighed in exasperation, "Okay, from the top: We missed our destination by one month-"

"Okay," I cut in, "Firstly, what WAS our destination, exactly?" I'm still baffled that major detail slipped my mind in the first place.

"Right, we didn't exactly cover that, did we?" The little helmet blinks, "The original itinerary had us making our first stop at a massive space station called The Citadel about one month before this date. My intention was to get a closer look at a Reaper, maybe even get on-board one."

"So you planned for us to head straight for the belly of the beast, huh?" I cross my arms, starting to feel a bit testy.

"I never claimed to be the ideal person for this job. I'm actually an artist recently turned historian. Maybe it wasn't the best idea, but I figured we had to start somewhere." He explained.

"Why didn't you tell me about it?"

"I forgot." He blinks, not sounding the least bit remorseful about it.

"Really now?" My tone rises, "How can YOU, of all people, forget anyth-"

"Hey, can we argue about this later?" The AI interjects, "We've got a sizable payload of bigger fish to fry at the moment."

I take one deep breath, fully aware that the magnitude of events that are unfolding around me are making me numb to the situation. I'm starting to feel the dull throb of a migraine just beginning its assault. It takes a great deal of effort to keep my thoughts from turning completely inward.

_I've got to stay focused! No time for "Oh, woe is me!"_

"Okay," I sigh, "You mentioned that we missed our stop by one month. Is there something wrong with the suit?" I begin to unintentionally roll back to face the dark side of the planet.

"Hold on," A few block paragraphs of code scrolled vertically over my field of view and then two graphical windows spring up from the bottom of the HUD, "As a matter of fact, there is something amazingly wrong! While you were 'zoned out', I believe I mentioned that we've managed to use every last drop of the time displacement core." One of the windows displays a bar graph with three readings on it. One bar, labeled "APC", is fairly close to the highest possible value. The other two bars, "TDC" and "PDC", register either very low or naught.

"So we're stuck?" Now I'm genuinely nervous.

_Don't panic!_

"As for any sort of temporal displacement, yes. Both of those cores are shot. Thankfully, we've still got the all purpose core at nearly one hundred percent." The low opacity blocks of text start to scroll over the HUD again. "There is absolutely no reason for that single jump to wipe out the entire time displacement core! Jason, I swear to you, this has never happened before!"

"Okay, okay…" I try to calm him down, attempting a similar outcome for myself. "Let's just take a breather here." I take in a deep breath, "and let it all out." I exhale. Arthur's avatar stares at me unblinking.

"You realize I would need lungs to do that, right?" The helmet blinks once.

"Right," I pivot the suit away from the dark side of the planet, just in time to see a massive spaceship come hurtling towards me.

I have just enough time to scream, "SHIT!" as the burning frigate closes the distance. With only seconds from being smeared all over the windshield, a massive CRACK! and _BOOOM!_ nearly blow the fillings out of my teeth! The blast forces me upward and I twirl like a ragdoll. I catch passing glimpses of the ship that is now below me as I spin. One whole section of the hull is completely sheared off! I can see the interior of the ship through the massive breach. Other sections of the ship are leaving long smoke trails in their wake.

"Oh, shit!" My spiraling path continues, but the force of the explosion has me moving in the same direction as the imperiled ship instead of against it. "Arthur, can you keep us upright!" Instantly, I feel several small bursts, each exerting force on a flailing extremity. Pressurized cryogen bipropellant spits out of the suit in precise intervals to halt my demonstration of ragdoll physics.

"What was that?" I gasp, the breathing exercise long forgotten.

"Looks like that ship's on fire." Arthur casually observes the spectacle below along with me. "Or this is very true-to-life film shoot for airline safety."

"Arthur, stay focused! Is there something we can do?" I shout, in no mood for jokes.

Several dialogue prompts appear on Arthur's side of the HUD, but I'm too busy freaking out to really notice what they say. "They've already sent out a distress beacon. Hmmm. It sounds like the pilot is still trying to save that ship! Listen to this!"

"…this is the SSV Normandy! Mayday, Mayday! We've suffered damage from an unknown enemy!" The radio transmission plays and then cuts to static.

"Hey! I think it's time to abandon ship, pal!" Arthur exclaims, sending a transmission back to the floundering ship.

"Looks like we're not the only ones celebrating Really Bad Luck Day." The moment the words were out of his inorganic mouth, a blindingly bright beam of energy blasted through the already exposed section of the ship! My eyes grew wide with the realization of what was about to happen.

Arthur sees it, "That energy weapon is about to hit the ships reactor-!"

A terrible and massive shockwave slammed into my suit, but I was somehow spared what normally would have torn unprotected armor to shreds. Shrapnel from successive blasts flew by me like upside-down rainfall. By some miracle, it all streamed by without causing damage. I watched as the superstructure of the ship was razed in seconds. One final sharp explosion later and the shockwaves finally ceased. All I can hear is my rapid breathing and blood pounding through my head.

"We're still alive…" I gasp. That was when she slammed into me.

"Good grief!" I cough into the helmet as I try to get air back into my lungs. I look down at the unfortunate person who got themselves ejected from the exploding vessel. She looked at me and then back down at the ship she just flew up from and then back to me. I could readily tell she was female; the armor she wore looked uncomfortably tight.

"Well, now this isn't so bad!" Arthur chimes in, "Even in the midst of such chaos, women throw themselves at us!"

"Arthur, please shut up for a second!" Then I noticed the precious oxygen rapidly leaving her suit. She noticed it as well and started writhing around, trying to find the breach with her hands.

"We have to do something now!" I reach out for one of her flailing limbs and manage to catch her ankle. I pull her back towards me.

"There's a sticky patch system built into the right gauntlet of your suit! It's ready to go!" I feel a small clink on the anterior of my right wrist as I move myself behind the still struggling woman. Reaching around her neck so I don't lose her, I pull a strip of the sticky patch out of the dispenser just below my palm. Reaching back around to find the gapping crack in one of the suit hoses, I hastily cover the first breach with the sticky patch while trying to avoid being kicked or punched. I'm not so successful at avoiding the blows that inevitably strike my helmet. Thankfully, the first patch took care of most of the leakage.

"There's also a corded multi-tool on your belt. The blunt end will be superheated so you can seal the patch." Arthur helpfully projects a visual of the chameleon suit and the location of the multi-tool flashes. Still hanging on to the struggling spacewoman, I snatch the multi-tool from the belt and a length of wrapped spring-loaded cord comes along with it. I stretch it out so it's not trying to rush back into the suit and poise the blunt end above the sticky patch. It's already beginning to ripple against the pressure difference. I apply pressure with the multi-tool and the superheated metal begins to fuse the sticky patch with the hose.

"Got the first break sealed!" I shout after ten seconds of work. My heart is hammering away wildly as I address other small suit breaches highlighted by the chameleon HUD. My patient has finally stopped trying to resist my attempts to help and I can vaguely make out a muffled voice coming from her helmet. I'm still applying sticky patches when Arthur picks up on her suit radio.

"C-cold-d-d" Her first word reaches my ears. Her teeth are definitely chattering. I try to focus on sealing the remaining sticky patches. From what the HUD was telling me, all the breaks in her suit were now covered over in the futuristic gaff tape. I dutifully continued to work away on the posterior sections of the suit.

"Kinda like patching a bicycle tube…" I think out loud.

"Cold-d-d-d." The additional voice in my head replies.

"It means you're still alive." I offer, just finishing the seal on the final patch.

"N-not enjoy-ing it…much." She chatters again.

"Ah, we've gotta little bombshell here," Arthur pipes in, "What luck!"

"Done!" I pull the multi-tool out some and let it snake back into its place on my belt. I'm still behind the woman, grasping just under her left shoulder so we don't drift apart. I twist her around to face me and get a quick glimpse of the "N7" badge on her armor. I look into the thin visor like strip on her helmet where her eyes would be.

"How are you holding up, ma'am?" I surprise myself with how calm I sound; especially after nearly being run over and blown up by a spaceship.

"Cold-d-d." She replies again. I shake my head and grasp both of her shoulders.

"Yeah, we've got that. You were just exposed to vacuum, lady! Are you sure you don't have the bends? Bleeding out your eyes or anything like that?" She looks back at me blankly for a moment and then shakes her head.

"Oh, thank God!" I sigh, relieved to have the worst of our dilemma behind us. "I think we've had enough fun for one day." She nods in agreement. I let go of her shoulders and grab hold of her left wrist. My attention turns back to the massive planet beneath us, or above us, it's all pretty relative in space. I'm surprised when I feel something click into the belt of my suit. Looking down, I see the woman securing a sort of karabiner to one of the loops. An orange nylon strap extends from it and attaches to her own utility belt.

"Wow. You recover quick!" I smile and release her wrist.

"Part of the job description. Medi-gel doesn't hurt either." She looks up at me, her tone very serious now, "You saved my life back there, and I appreciate that, but you've got some fast talking to do. You're not part of the Normandy crew. Who are you?"

I remain silent, completely uncertain about what I should say.

"Hold that thought," I switch off her radio link, "Arthur, how should we go about this?" I look back at her and hope she's not getting too angry or suspicious about me stalling.

"Well, she's already seen the chameleon suit. Traditionally, we use time displacement techniques to rectify issues like this. However, as you're keenly aware, the suit can't help us with THAT anymore."

"So I guess I've got to tell her the truth then." I decide.

"I agree. But be ready for anything. This is a situation I've never faced before."

"I'll try and be tactful." I finish and turn the woman's radio link back on.

"Okay, this might take awhile to explain,"

"Then you might want to save it until we get planetside. The world's getting awfully big down there." She motions to the planet beneath us and it really has grown quite a bit in just the last few minutes.

"She's right, Jason. At the rate we're falling, we'll be visiting this planet in less than four minutes," Arthur clarifies over an isolated channel, audible only to me. "Not sure how we're going to survive the landing, though."

"Huh," I look down at the snow covered surface as it rushes towards us, "Can't say I've ever skydived from space before." It's already getting to be night fall over the section of the atmosphere we're falling through. I look up and notice the horizon is gradually turning a brilliant sunset orange as we fall. The thicker air of the upper atmosphere is audible through the muffling material of the chameleon helmet. An airspeed indicator on the left side of my HUD quickly drops from sound barrier speeds to around 150 MPH. "Arthur, you're so damn helpful with this suit HUD," I chuckle.

"Thanks," He sounds genuinely pleased, "but you'll probably change your tune once we've pancaked on that mountain of ice down there."

"Fair enough," I turn my attention back to the woman I just met in possibly the most ridiculous circumstance ever faced by man.

"Okay, we're definitely in the atmosphere now!" I shout over the roar of air rushing past us. "I hope you've gotta parachute in that suit somewhere, cause we're going to need it real quick!" Both of us have taken up the traditional freefall position synonymous with skydiving.

The woman across from me shrugs, "No parachutes, but I'm a biotic. I should be able to slow us down!"

"What's a biotic?" I shout.

"You new to this galaxy?" She replies incredulously.

"You could say that!"

She doesn't reply. She just looks at me with what I can only guess is a surprised expression.

An altitude indicator next to the airspeed readout appears and we're already at 5,000 feet.

"5,000 feet!" I shout, "We're getting close!" For reasons I don't fully understand, I'm stupid excited about watching the ground race towards us at 130 MPH. Must be the redneck American in me. "WHOOOOOOO!" I scream, deciding to embrace the rush.

I glance at the spacewoman, "2,400 feet! If you're going to do something, you'd better do it quick!"

"Here! Hold on!" She commands and reaches out to grasp my wrists. 1,200 feet and we're locked together.

_This is going to hurt. _

An electrified sensation began at my wrists around 900 feet and quickly engulfed my entire body at 700. The woman in front of me looked as though she were on fire! A blue fire!

"Oh, shit!" The electrical pulses begin to ripple all over me and the chameleon HUD is suddenly really hard to read. At 200 feet, a massive surge of energy exploded through me. Several warnings flashed all over the HUD and then the chameleon suit shut down entirely.

Everything went black.


	4. It Reads Like Montauk

My eyes flutter open, but everything is still black.

"Damn…" I take a sharp breath inward as I try to move. It hurts, but it feels like nothing too catastrophic happened when we reached the ground. Nothing broken, anyway. _I'm still alive and that's a good thing,_ I mentally concluded. I let a groan escape as I sit up. The chameleon pressurization process starts again and that familiar constricting dynamic doesn't feel quite as harsh anymore. The cycle relaxes to a comfortable level and the HUD begins to reboot. The exterior cameras finally come back online and my augmented vision is fully restored.

The first thing I see is ice; ice and snow. A temperature indicator on the HUD indicates that it's about -20 degrees Celsius and I deduct that it'll probably get much lower as the night wears on. Looking up at the sky, I see thousands of brilliantly shinning stars. Not quite as vivid as they were above the atmosphere, but still breathtaking nonetheless. Especially for me, having never really seen stars until I put on the chameleon jumpsuit.

"Arthur?" I say quietly and his blinking helmet avatar finally appears on the right side of the HUD.

"Looks like your lucky stars were shinning down on us after all!" The non-organic announces happily.

"Yeah," I look around, searching for the person who made that possible. "Where's that lady…?"

"Right here," A female voice to my right announces. I twist around, still sitting on the ice. "It looks like your armor doesn't take too well to biotics." I scramble to my feet, ignoring the soreness of my limbs. "I wasn't sure if I'd cooked you alive in there."

"I'll be fine," I reply, "How are you holding up?"

"The same," She turns and looks away from me into a distant glaciated valley. A very large moon rises beyond it. "Kaiden, he's awake. We'll be headed your way shortly."

_"Aye aye, ma'am. Glad you're still with us, Commander." _A concerned male voice replies. The commander turns back to me. "Let's move out!" and just like that she books it towards the valley.

"Arthur, didn't she just nearly suffocate in vacuum not ten minutes ago?" I switch over to a private link, "I just want to be sure I'm not imagining what I'm seeing."

"I was thinking the same thing. It seems a brush with death doesn't faze HER in the least." The little helmet blinks.

"Or falling twenty miles to your death." I start to follow the woman who is already a few meters ahead of me. I slip a few times before a Chameleon Suit rendition of ice crampons shoot out of my boots, "Thanks Arthur. I might have a chance at catching up with her now."

"Good luck with that!" The non-organic blinks with amusement.

The Commander and I reach the far end of the valley about a half hour later. My mind is still absolutely reeling from the events that had transpired so far. I feel myself start to become increasingly exhausted as we run to meet this Kaiden fellow. The Commander says nothing as we make our way through the icy plains. _I can't blame her,_ I decide after pondering the awkwardness for awhile, _She's just been rescued by a complete stranger. She has no reason to believe I'm trustworthy. _The woman held the lead as we ran, but she looked back at me every other minute. Whether it was out of concern or suspicion, I wasn't sure.

"Finally!" The Commander announces over the radio. "There's one of the escape pods!" She starts to sprint towards the large shinning silver capsule and tears off around the corner. I try and keep up the best I can, despite having better footgear. When I come skidding to a halt around the escape pod, I see the Commander embracing another man wearing similar armor to her own.

"Damn! She's taken!" Arthur exclaims in annoyance. I can't help but laugh out loud. Both the Commander and her friend look up at me in annoyance.

"Wow." The man says over the radio, who I assume is Kaiden, "Where did you get armor like that?"

"Don't get too excited, Lieutenant. It sucks with biotics," She looks back at me and ushers me towards the escape pod hatch, "You, sir, have a lot of explaining to do."

"I'll do my best, ma'am." I shut off the radio and enter the small escape vessel ahead of them.

When I step through the hatch, I'm greeted by a moment of stunned silence. I just stood there, glancing around at the strange new faces of this alien time period. There were five people inside. Three of them were human men and they sat on the left side of the escape pod. I guessed by their matching fatigues, they must be military servicemen. The other two people sitting across from them looked very alien indeed.

"So, this is the one who saved Shepard." A very strange looking person broke the silence from the right corner. His voice sounded like it had slight flange and a low-pitched reverberating chorus to it. He was hunched over on the bench, just barely clearing the restraint harnesses, and it was clear that he would stand more than a foot taller than me when standing straight. His face was almost cat like and reptilian at the same time. He wore a suit of blue armor with dominant blue hues and subtle dark grey. Upon a second glance, I found there was something distinctly avian about him as well. He had two long toes extending from his foot that reminded me of the hens we took care of back home. This person had to be a Turian. I nodded in greeting.

The commander stepped in from behind me and I took an empty seat to the left, ducking under the restraints.

"Glad to see you're still in one piece, Garrus, Tali." She nods to the pair of aliens. The other alien, whom I guessed was Tali, looked almost human in appearance, save for the hands with three fingers as opposed to the human five. The Quarian looked quite small sitting next to the towering Turian. She was still in a spacesuit and her face masked. The most distinctive feature I took notice of was the Hijab covering her head. It was beautifully decorated, full of lines and patterns. She looked at me inquisitively.

As Commander Shepard stepped forward, the three service men next to me stood as one and held a salute.

"LeBlanc, LeFave, and LeRoy," Shepard turned to address the three servicemen, "No surprise seeing you guys together." She cocked her head slightly before returning the salute, "At ease."

"Aye aye, ma'am." The Canadian closest to me replied and all three sat down.

"Where's Joker?" The commander looks around the escape pod briefly, deep concern in her voice.

"Chakwas set up a makeshift med-bay in one of the other pods. He's only suffered a few fractures and she's taking care of him as we speak." Kaiden explains, removing his helmet as he does. Shepard turns back to the open hatch of the escape pod, closes it firmly, and slides an electronic locking mechanism in place. It engages with a satisfying CLUNK!

"Shepard… we've lost twenty servicemen and women, by my count; Navigator Presley…he didn't make it." He adds.

"Shit…" Both Shepard and I whisper in unison. She looks devastated for the briefest moment, but only for a moment. As she turns to face her crew, the commanding officer is back in a second.

"The distress beacon was launched before the second attack hit us. The Alliance will be here," Her voice is full to the brim with authority; the perfect picture of charisma. I can't help but feel reassured, despite everything that's happened so far.

"We just need to sit tight and keep a constant guard patrolling the escape pods."

"Already done, Commander. We secured the area the moment we landed." Garrus pipes in from the back.

"Good," Shepard turns her gaze in my direction. Without warning, she reaches up and slams the harness restraint over me.

My whole body jumps involuntarily with surprise, "Uh, what are you doing?" I look up at her uncertainly. She steps closer and punches in a code into the keypad just above the harness and far out of my reach. Two beeps follow and I feel a locking mechanism engage at the connection points of the metal harness I'm now trapped in.

"You don't know me, and I don't know you," She turns and moves to the empty seat next to Kaiden, "Also, you just happened to appear out of thin air and be in exactly the right spot to catch me when I got blasted from the Normandy." The battle hardened solider turns back to me and sits down. She swiftly removes her helmet with two simple clicks of opposing latches and her face is revealed to me for the first time. "Tell me, how does that work, exactly?"

For someone who I can only guess has a great deal of experience in battle, the woman looks surprisingly good. Slightly disheveled light brown hair reaches down to her neck. Her eyes bare an interesting semblance to my own, mostly dark brown but progressively more green closer to the pupil. Her face looked ironically calm in the midst of all the stress everyone has been through for the past few hours. A shrapnel scar in her left cheek is the only disturbance on the otherwise serene face. She didn't even seem all too concerned about my intrusion; more curious and protective of her crew than anything else. Despite locking me up in a rollercoaster harness, I admired her.

_Time to shine…_

I reach behind the chameleon helmet and press firmly on two pads that only activate when the suit gloves touch them. The HUD powers down and the helmet depressurizes with a slight hiss. I lift the helmet away from my head and attempt to pull it through the harness. It reacts with a CLANG and doesn't fit through no matter which way I turn it.

_So much for shining…_

"Ah, hell." I whisper. Two of the Canadians chuckle beside me. I finally figure out I can just pull it through the sides of the harness and set it in my lap with an embarrassed smirk.

"Well, you're definitely Human, and from the United States, by the sounds of it." Shepard smiles a bit.

The Turian's voice flanges deeply in agreement, but I can't understand him. Grins widen and chuckling ensues at my expense.

_The translator must be in the helmet._

"Okay, you got me. No surprises there," I wave off the teasing, "Not even here for five minutes and I'm already being picked on!" A small chorus of laughter follows, mostly concentrated with the French Canadian Trio. Even the Turian looks like he's cracking a bit of smile. The Quarian continues to look at me, inquisitive as ever.

"In all seriousness," I lean forward towards Shepard, "This isn't something I can explain easily, but I'll try," I sigh and look straight into her eyes, "I'm a time traveler."

The metal box we're in, not much bigger than a walk-in closet, is very quiet now. Only the sound of whistling wind and the hiss of drifting snow could be heard. Shepard continues to look at me intently, her expression revealing only slight surprise from my revelation.

"I'm really just a normal everyday guy from the year 2011 who happened to stumble upon technology from 2329." I continue, feeling pressured from the silence.

The Quarian, Tali, speaks up for the first time, but I can't understand her either. The language sounds akin to Hebrew or Aramaic.

I look over at the masked face in the corner, "I'm sorry, I can't understand you. The Chameleon Helmet must act as a translation interface. I could understand Garrus before I took it off."

"She said, 'How did you know where I would be when I was spaced?'" Shepard translates.

"Ah," I glance down at the helmet briefly, "I wasn't planning on being here, actually. This was completely unexpected; though I'm glad it turned out this way." I look from Tali back to Shepard expectantly.

"What's your name?" Shepard asks, sounding more curious than before.

"Jason Bourne," The last name is out of my mouth before I've even thought about it. Perhaps it was a subconscious decision to maintain at least a certain degree of anonymity.

_What the hell, it's a time period almost two hundred years ahead of mine. Who could possibly find out?_

"Okay, Jason, we've got some time to kill," The commander leans forward slightly, placing her helmet in between herself and Kaiden, "Tell us your story from the beginning and we'll go from there."

"Really?" I blink in surprise, "You don't think I'm crazy?"

She offered a small smile, "As far as I'm concerned, you're innocent until proven guilty."

"Wow," I'm bordering on being stunned, "That's an unexpected surprise, Shepard."

"Some might say I was too merciful, but I did lock you up, just in case." Her smile broadens at that. "And saving my life gets you some points."

"Only some, huh? Fair enough," I looked around at the small crew around me, each person looking expectantly at me to begin the tale. "Okay," I sigh deeply, "Once upon a time, there was a boy named Jason. He was one of those silly loner types who do stupid things like go wandering off into the woods at night in the middle of a blizzard. Well, one night, he found a strange concrete bunker out in the middle of nowhere…"

"…and when we hit 2400 feet, Shepard here lit herself on fire like a dozen blue propane torches. That was my first introduction to biotics and those don't set well with the Chameleon Suit. The system crashed, I passed out, I woke up, we trotted on over the valley and through the woods and here we are." My hands slap back down onto the helmet to conclude my deadpan presentation. I gauge the expressions of all those present for the first time since starting the story.

Shepard appears to still be interested, but what she really thinks is unknowable by her expression; Kaiden is scratching his stubble thoughtfully; the Turian looks more impassive than Shepard does; Tali's body language suggests that she might have actually enjoyed the tale, and all three Canadians have gone to sleep.

"This AI," Kaiden leans forward, addressing me, "It's in your suit?"

"Yep." I lean back and rest against the headrest, feeling almost as tired as the French Canadian Trio from telling my story.

"Are you aware that the creation of artificial intelligence is illegal in Council Space?" The Lieutenant asks.

"No, I had no idea," I reply, my voice getting quieter from exhaustion, "Sounds like it could complicate things for us."

"It will," Shepard finally speaks, "The council is going to have a field day with this." She says, more to herself, "You're not in a very good position, Bourne. You're using alien technology that's at least 100 years more advanced than our own and you've got an AI to boot."

"Maybe that's a good position, depending upon your perspective," Kaiden offers, turning to Shepard, "But you're right, the council has a hard enough time accepting Reapers exist. They're not going to like this."

The commander crosses her arms and looks back at me, "Tell me more about this AI."

"He has a name," I shake my head, "He's not like some monotone computerized personal assistant. He has a highly developed personality and a legitimate sense of humor, in fact. From what I've experienced with him in the past few hours, he's also very loyal, and self-sacrificing," I turn the helmet so that both cameras are facing into the center of the escape pod, "Why don't you guys get to know eachother?"

The Quarian starts to interject and she sounds suspicious. Shepard nods at her input,

"It's a valid concern, but if he was going to infect our omni-tools, he might as well have done that already," She turns her attention back to me, "I want to meet this person."

I do a double take. I'm legitimately shocked that this military commander is so willing to understand the whole story. I was already impressed before my wild tale unfolded to her.

"You sound like the genuine article, Shepard. Arthur will no doubt be impressed by that." I smile.

"Come on, now. Let's hear him say that." She smiles in return.

I let my fist come down on the helmet with a THUNK. I start to feel a slight vibration resonate from the helmet and certain parts of the chameleon suit. A high pitch wine begins and gradually pitches up until it's no longer in the range of human hearing. Then, something completely unexpected occurs. The silhouette of a man gradually fades into view in the center of the escape pod. Everyone, including myself is looking at the image unfolding before us in anticipation.

_Let's see, time travel, tough shields, onboard AI, sticky-patch system, ice cramp-ons, and a holographic projector! Good grief, what CAN'T this suit do!_

Very quickly, the details start to fill in. The image begins to interact realistically with the cool blue lighting of the shuttle. Within two seconds, a smartly dressed gentleman is standing in the middle of the room; just as if he'd been picked up from a Broadway and dropped in the middle of 2183. He wore a black textured top hat, held a mahogany cane in his left hand, wore a red bowtie, and brightly polished shoes. His face was tinged with mirth and already smiling before the projection had fully materialized. It was a hologram that was indistinguishable from real life, as far as I was concerned. It was Arthur.

He looked at me briefly and turned to Shepard, "Commander Shepard," He began, his voice was just like it sounded in the helmet; always animated, no matter what the circumstances, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you! You're feeling better, I trust?" Arthur bows slightly and offers his right hand in greeting.

For the first time, Shepard looks taken aback with the person/hologram that's standing before her. Her mouth was slightly open, eyes a bit wider than usual. Probably for the first time in her life, she was speechless. She regarded the holographic hand before her with uncertainty. Then, just like before, the commander was back faster than you could blink. She stood up and shook the hand firmly.

"Likewise." She answered coolly, not betraying her true feelings in the least.

"How does that work?" Kaiden asks, looking at Arthur in wonder, "You look just as solid as any of us."

"Sounds like you guys are still in the dark ages of holo technology," Arthur turns to the Lieutenant, releasing Shepard's hand, "The Chameleon Suit's holographic projector is completely wave based as opposed to old fashioned light and sound projectors. It can simulate any sort of atomic structure, given enough energy is supplied."

"Interesting," Shepard says, not sounding very interested, "but I want to know more about you. Who created you and what were you designed for?"

"Would you believe that I was the experiment of a lonely scientist who had an affinity for 20th century media?" He chuckles, "Now, I'm not going to claim to be smarter than other program, but I was designed without traditional robotic limitations; unshackled would be the apt term."

"So, you have no inhibitions in your programming?" The commander looks at the hologram warily.

"Ah, you're wondering if I'm secretly scheming to enslave the universe like the Reapers plan to." He lifts his arms dramatically, "Well, you can rest assured that my interests are far more localized than intergalactic domination. I was raised to pursue what I found fascinating. Manipulating people for personal gain has never entered my list of things to do, frankly," He blinks, expression becoming more amused, "Unless there's an opportunity for comedic relief at Jason's expense. There is that."

"Ha." Is the best retort I can muster in my drowsy state.

"What are you interested in, then?" Shepard moves closer to the shuttle hatch, probably to see a different angle of the hologram.

"Hmm," Arthur looks down slightly in thought, "The mysterious inventions of Leonardo Da Vinci," He pauses, thinking of another, "The origins of Stonehenge… ceramics! I'm an expert sculptor, if I do say so myself." He taps his cane on the metal grating.

"You're a sculptor?" The commander's eyes blink in surprise, "You don't sound anything like the Geth, if you're being honest."

"I'm not much use in a battle, if that's what you mean. It looks like you've got that pretty well covered," He smirks, "If you need someone to solve riddles, or provide information about alien and historical cultures, that's where I come in handy."

"How much do you know about alien culture?"

Arthur turns around and faces the two aliens sitting in the right corner.

"You, sir, are a Turian. Your species evolved with a focus on public service and duty. This had a profound influence on you galactic status as 'those guys who get the job done.' Religiously, Turians generally believe in the essence of a spirit, but don't hold to the idea that spirits can influence the world around us." The hologram looks back at Shepard, "Need I continue? I could go on about the Unification War and dextro-amino acids, if you'd like."

"I think you've made your point," The N7 solider, now looking rather tired, resumed her place at Kaiden's side. She sat down heavily, "You've told me a lot about your capabilities and those are impressive, no doubt about that. But what exactly are you proposing to do by coming here? Stop the Repears, or return to your original timeline?"

"Shepard," I wave from across the shuttle and yawn before continuing, "He thinks they're both related. The Reaper's influence might be what's preventing the time displacement technology from working properly."

"So if we stop the Reapers, you can return home." Shepard concludes.

"And the galaxy finally gets a break from a centuries long genocide," The AI turns and takes a step closer to Shepard, "For the record, I eagerly anticipate our collaboration in the months ahead!" He offers his hand again. Shepard lazily accepts it.

"We'll see, Arthur," She offers a smile, "I'm going to need more convincing than that. But now isn't the time or place. Garrus?" The Turian sits up at attention, "Keep an eye on these two for the next two hours and then wake up LeRoy to take your position."

The alien rises to his full six foot seven height and moves around the hologram to stand just in front of the hatch. He seems rather relieved to be standing after being hunched over under the restraints.

"The picture of service, what did I tell you!" Arthur gestures towards the Turian and looks at me for a response.

"I think some people want to get some shut-eye before the Alliance picks us up." A tired Commander Shepard says warningly.

"Of course!" Arthur turns to address her with a lazy salute, "I'll be here if you need me." The hologram fades and there's an audible pitching down that gradually lowers until it fades away completely.

Silence finally descends upon all and it successfully lulls me into a fitful sleep. I fall forward against the locked restraints with a slight CLINK and I'm out almost instantly.

_What a fuckin' day._


	5. Wake up, Mr Bourne!

**[A/N]: I probably should've mentioned that this story was going on hiatus for awhile. I apologize for not keeping this up-to-date. Anyway, we're back and ready to roll. **

**Firstly, the name of the last chapter, "It Reads Like Montauk" is a reference to the _Montauk Project_; an urban legend about experiments conducted by the U.S. Air Force having to do with teleportation back in the 1960s. Supposedly, they had a jump-room that would take you to a secret Mars base. **

**In case you haven't picked up on it already, I'm experimenting with a different world-view than is presented in the Mass Effect universe. So far, Mass Effect has been quite naturalistic. Shepard dying and coming back to life through physical reconstruction suggests that the writers are working with the idea that life is reliant upon biological processes and a "person" can be brought back through organic restoration. But who knows for sure? Maybe Commander Shepard in Mass Effect 2 doesn't have a soul! Or maybe she's an AI programmed to be like Shepard? **

**Anyway, there's going to be more eastern philosophy in the chapters ahead. Reincarnation, astral projection, soul-mates, karma, that sort of thing. And time travel, of course. Don't worry! That element is coming back and I can't wait to write those time-jumping chapters! First, we've gotta get off Alchera. On with the story!**

**Totally forgot the disclaimers for the first few chapters:**

**All characters and settings from the Mass Effect universe are owned by Bioware and Electronic Arts. All characters, settings, and the Chameleon Jumpsuit from the Journeyman Project Triology are owned by Presto Studios and Ubisoft. [A/N]**

"Jason _Bourne_, huh?" The woman standing next to me grinned.

"Look, I don't know what I was thinking, okay?" I smacked my forehead and I began to prophesy that it wouldn't be the last time during our visit.

The place we found ourselves in was staggering in its tranquility. Even with the earth-sized load of stress and unanswered questions on my shoulders, I felt as though I could forget it all for awhile. The clouds were massive with very deep grays contrasting against an evening sky. Lightning strikes could be seen out in the great ocean that surrounded the island. The small patch of land we stood on was like an oasis in the midst of the storming sea.

I walked with Catherine along the grassy edge of a twenty foot drop-off. I had no idea how I had arrived in that place and I decided to keep that a mystery for the time being. There were too many damn questions already. The comings and goings between worlds, dimensions, and time zones seemed a minor concern.

We moved along in silence for awhile and my eyes kept darting back and forth between the chaotic skyline and the beauty who gracefully matched my pace. She looked different this time; more mature. A red cloak hung loosely across her shoulders covering a simple white dress. Curious patterns and symbols were embroidered into the crimson fabric. Even her face looked older, though still baring enough similarities for there to be no mistaking who she was.

"You need to rest, love." She stated simply. I stopped and turned to get a good look at her.

"Yeah, about that…" Her eyes were still the same. Twin emeralds returned my gaze, blinking and curious. "Love," I looked down at my feet and involuntarily bumped my right booted heal against my left toe; a nervous habit of mine.

"Let me say something first," She stepped closer to me. "I understand if the same love you had for me isn't there anymore. It's been a long time since we…" Her hands softly encircled my left. I hesitantly covered the bonding with my right. "Well, no point in opening up old wounds, right?" A smile briefly crossed her face.

"What wounds, Catherine?" A low rumble of thunder rolled through the air.

"They really are old things, love…Jason." A hesitation, "I'm sorry…I'm so used to calling you that." She looked down and slowly moved her thumbs over my palm. "I've put it all behind me," Her piercing eyes locked with mine. "But a woman never forgets."

I inwardly shuddered. _Oh, boy. What have I forgotten? Do I really want to remember?_

"Forgive me if I'm only the tiniest bit confused about all this, but I have one simple question," I took a breath. "Why now?"

"You wanted to do something about the old gods…the Reapers. You asked for my help and you told me to meet you here."

"In a past life, you mean?" My mind strained as I attempt to put the pieces together; a 10,000 piece puzzle that changed colors every five seconds.

"In-between lives, actually." She smiled at the growing confusion on my face.

"Good grief..." I turned, about to smack my forehead again but settled for a grunt of frustration.

"Too much information?" She remarked teasingly.

"If your goal was to completely shatter my world view, mission accomplished." I lost my track of thought and found myself admiring the beauty of the setting sun.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Catherine moved to stand next to me.

I looked back at her, "Yeah, it is," I chuckled, "Almost like somebody pulled it out of my imagination."

"You did." She stepped closer, "You really have no idea how beautiful your mind is." There was stillness between us, but I could also feel a building energy that I couldn't ignore. I suddenly became lost in her gaze and I barely noticed how much closer she was to my person. Everything seemed to stop.

Just as suddenly as it began, the intense connectedness I felt with this woman subsided. Her eyes fell away from mine and a sad expression moved over her.

"I'm sorry," She turned. "I'm pushing too hard."

"Catherine," I grasped her shoulders lightly and turned her to face me. "I've just been hit by a tidal wave of memories and my mind can't process all of it. But there is one thing that I understand perfectly; something I can't deny," I paused; surprised at the words that formed in my heart, though I had never been so certain about anything before. "You're almost part of me."

I was met with a beautiful smile for that revelation. I could see her eyes beginning to moisten. "It's strange…" I cracked a smile of my own. "I know you, but then I feel like I shouldn't. Ego versus spirit, I guess."

"You need to wake up now, love." She placed a hand on the left side of my face.

"And it was just getting interesting." I sighed and noticed the world around me was beginning to fade to a dull gray. "You goin' to pull that sleepin' beauty move on me again?"

"If that's what you want…" She smiled seductively and moved very close; pressing her body against mine. "I'll be seeing you again very soon…Jason Bourne." It was so quick, I almost didn't feel it; the electric feeling of softness brushing over my lips. I savored the sensation as everything faded to black.

"Jason…" The whisper reached my ears like a distant shout. "Jason Bourne." It came again, clearer and louder.

"Bourne, wake up!" A jarring pain slammed into my right shoulder as I was jolted into consciousness. I blinked and there was Commander Shepard standing over me; her eyes aflame with anger, and a very big pistol in her hand pointed exactingly at the center of my forehead. "Care to explain the three mercenary drop-ships parked outside?" I could hear gunfire and desperate shouts nearby. The hatch was open. Shepard and I were the only occupants in the escape shuttle.

"Uhh… no spaces closer to the mall?" I offered weakly. Quick as lightning, her free hand grabbed at the neck of my suit and slammed me into the metal restraints.

"Listen carefully," The pistol was still precisely trained on my head. "We're in no position to take on a band of mercs. I've got wounded and half the crew is going to be frostbitten before they can even be gunned down properly."

"Listen, I don't know anything!" Ignoring my failing attempt to convince her, the Commander punched a code into the keypad above my head. She stepped back and the restraints lifted away with a hiss.

"You're going out there and you're going to call them off." The red laser dot of her weapon remained poised over my forehead. "Or you'll die like the rest of us."

It was the most nightmarish execution march I could ever imagine. The air was piercingly cold around my face and miniature icicles were already forming on my mustache. I moved as quickly as I could along the uneven icy surface, the cool muzzle of Shepard's pistol breathing down my neck the entire time. I held the Chameleon helmet in my hands as I stumbled onward.

"Anytime, Bourne," She directed me forwarded unwaveringly into the hellish sounds of battle just over the snowy ridge. "For every one of my crew who dies here, I'll take one of your limbs." The cold steel of the weapon she held crashed into my neck. I fell face-first into the snow at the peak of the ridge and my helmet continued tumbling down the other side. "Make the call!"

I quickly surveyed the situation below, despite the woman consumed with rage bearing down on me. Shepard's crew, most of them woefully ill-equipped, fired desperately with what weapons they had. They skillfully moved between snowy mounds and rocky outcroppings to find cover. Beyond them was a literal wave of heavily armored soldiers returning heavy fire. From what I could make out, they wore black armor with glowing red eyes in their helmets.

"Shepard, I can't…" I looked back at her, hoping the sheer desperation on my face would convince her. "I don't know what's happening! I'm not responsible for this!"

"Damn it!" Still pointing the pistol at me as I lay there in the snow, she held up a hand to her ear, "This is Commander Shepard!" She barked, "We surrender unconditionally! Cease fire! I repeat: Cease fire!" It took a moment, but the volley of energy blasts flying back and forth stopped completely. An eerie and unsettling silence followed.

The commander looked as though she were listening to something, probably a reply over her suit radio. She nodded and turned her attention back to me. She was _pissed_.

"Get up!" Her armored boot connected with my side, causing me to roll over onto my stomach. I quickly got to my feet. "Put your hands behind your head and walk slowly down the hill." I instantly complied and carefully moved down the slope. I heard Shepard sheath her pistol and a quick glance confirmed that she had her hands up; signaling surrender.

I intentionally moved towards where the Chameleon helmet lay at the bottom of the hill. As we approached, I bent down to pick it up.

"Leave it." She stopped just behind me.

I hesitated, "Shepard, I want to help you." I stayed crouching over the helmet. I felt the familiar humming and vibration moving through the suit. The holoprojector was powering up.

"We're ready and able to assist, Commander." I breathed an enormous sigh of relief when Arthur materialized behind us. "But I need the suit in one piece first. Gotta do some quick research."

"Arthur," Shepard's tone became surprisingly relaxed and… _friendly?_ "What do you have in mind?"

"A bit of illusion, and some clever dialogue," He paused and I could just _feel_ him winking at her. "That should be all we need to resolve this peacefully."


End file.
